Reducing-mill.



C. BYRD.

REDUCING MILL.

APPLICATION Fl-LED JUNE I9. 1.9!8.

Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

\ 5 ,es 2/? a 10 clam,

C. BYRD.

REDUCING MILL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, l lfl. I 1,298,289. Patented Mar. 25,1919.

' v 3 SHEETSSHEET 2- C/arewae 59rd duowu,

C. BYRD.

REDUCING MILL.

APPLICATION HLED JUNE 19, 1919.

1,298,289. Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE BYRD, 0F OPP, ALABAMA REDUCING-MILL.

Application filed June 19, 1918.

which the following is a specification, reference' being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved reducing mill, and has for itsprimary object to provide a mill which is particularly designed forreducing or macerating products to be usedas stock feed, which consistsof relatively few parts and may be manufactured and sold to the stockraiser at nominal cost.

, It is another object of my invention to provide a reducing millembodying a rotary cutter, and ,means for initially breaking up the feedand evenly distributing the same longitudinally over and upon the rotarycutv ter.

And it is another important object of the invention to provide a devicefor the above purpose which will occupy relatively small space and be ofmaximum capacitv. the mill being operable either manually or by means ofa motor or other suitable power.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved construction, combination and relative arrangement'of theseveral parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, subsequentlyclaimed and illustrated in the drawings in which similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,and wherein:

Figure l is aside elevation of a reducing mill constructed in accordancewith the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: is a section taken on the line 44: of Fig 1;

F igJ 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; v

Fig. 6 is an end elevation; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the feed worm.

In the Southern States the velvet bean is extensively used as a stockfood. The stock raiser is not possessed of the facilities neces-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

Serial No. 240,752.

and the cost to the farmer or stock raiser of having the beans milled orreduced to suitable condition for stock feed is $4: to $5 per ton. Itis, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide areducing or macerating mill, by means of which the individual farmer atrelatively small cost can reduce the beans into the desired comminutedcondition and render the same available for stock feeding purposes.

With the above end in view, I have devised my improved reducing millwhich in the illustrated embodiment thereof includes spaced bearingsupports 5 of suitable construction, which may be bolted or otherwiseanchored to a platform or base. Between these supports, a cylindricalcutter 6 is disposed, said cutter having spaced spirally arrangedcontinuous cutting teeth 7 formed upon its periphery. The cutter shaft 8is journaled at its opposite ends upon the bearing supports 5, and ahousing 9 fixed upon said supports extends over the cylindrical cutter.This housing is centrally formed with a cylindrical shell 10 opening atits lower side into the housing immediately above the spiral cutter 6.One side wall 9 of the housing 9 is disposed in close contiguousrelation to the spiral blades or teeth 7 of the cutter, while theopposite side wall 9 of the housing is curved on a relatively wide arcand has its inner'face spaced an appreciable distance from the peripheryof the cutter. To the bearing-supports 5-, and below the side wall 9 ofthe housing, the supporting and guide plates 11 are fixed. Upon theseplates, the transversely adjustable member 12 is arranged, said memberextending in parallel relation to the axis of the cylindrical cutter 6.The inner face of this member 12 is concaved as at 13 in eccentricrelation to the cutter 6, said member having an inner longitudinallyextending knife edge, shown at 14, disposed in a plane in tangentialrelation to the lower side of the cutting cylinder. The concave face 13adjacent to said knife edge is grooved or corrugated, as shown at 15,for a purpose which will be presently explained.

A longitudinally extending bar 16 is fixed at its ends to the bearingsupports 5. An adjusting screw or bolt 17 is centrally mounted in thisbar and has threaded engagement in the member 12. Nuts 18 and 19 arethreaded upon the bolt and are adapted to i the trough 21, oneend ofsaid wormbeing be engagedagainst the opposite sides of the bearing 16 toretain the member 12 in its adjusted position relative to the:cylindrical cutter 6.

Upon one end of the shell 10, the flange 20 is formed, and to thisflange the feeding Y trough 21 issecurelv bolted atone of 113$:

ends. The upper portion of one side wall of said trough is obliquelyinclined in" an outward direction. as at-22, while the opposite sidewall of the troughextends upwardly in a wide curve or arc, as shown at'23.. 24: designates the feed hopper, which is suitably mounted andsecured uponthe walls of the trough 21. j r

A feed worm25 is rotatably mounted in journaled' in the outer end wallof the trough wall of the trough 21 on the opposite side ofitslongitudinal axis with respect to the Wall23. of said trough, alongitudinally ex 7 tending groove or channel29 is formed, As

' the beans are fed by gravity from' the hop' per 24' into the trough,they move down-j wardlybetween the toothed worm and the I wall23 and arecarried bythe worm teeth downwardly into the trough and into the grooveor channel 29. Thus, in the rotation o-f'the worm,the beans willbebroken upinto coarse particles." Thebroken beans ,are'

then conveyed by the worm into the shell 10 and evenly distributed overandupon the revolving cylindrical cutter ,6. This cutter carries thematerial downwardly through the space between the cutter and the housingwall' 9 and delivers'the same upon theconcave face' 13 of the member 12,over which j it gravitates downwardly upon the corrugations 15. Thesecorrugations serve to check the flow of the material and counteract thetendency of'the draft "around the cutter 6 and'between the same and'themember 12- r I cutter, saidteeth act to shave or shred the to draw andpackthe material-between the concave face 13 and 'the cutterand "thuschoke'up. the machine so that the cutter would not operate toeffectively cut or shred.

the material. By providing such means for controlling the delivery ofthe material to the spiral blades or teeth of the revolving beans. orfeed material and reduce it to a finelycomminuted condition. Thismaterial is delivered-below, the cutter' into a suitable 6 receptacle.

In the illustratedembodiment of invention, I have disclosed'means formanually operating the'mill. To this end,an arm ,or bracket 30 is formedupon one end of the housing 9 and upon a stud bolt or shaft 31 inventionas claimed. f

fixedin thisarni a gear Wheel-32 'is'rotatably mounted. -A suitableoperating crank or handle;33liszattached to this gear wheel.

The gear wheel 32 meshes with a gear34 fixed upon'one end of the cuttershaft 8, and a second gear 35 fixed'upon said shaft has meshingengagement withthe gear 28 on theend. of the feed worm 25. It will thus7 be seen that 'when the gear wheel 32 is turned by means of the crank,rotation isimparted to, the feed worm and. the cutting cylinder inrelatively opposite directions.

By the proper'adjustment of the member 12,

toward or from" the cutting fcylinder16, the

material may be cut to any desired degree of'finenessi In lieu ofthe'manlial means for operating the mill above referred to, the machinemay obviously be operated ;by

means of a motor or other suitable power" ,means. A 7 ,7 Y I}. 1 Fromthe foregoing descriptiomtaken- 1n connection with the accompanyingidrawing, the construction, manner of'operation and several advantagesofmy invention will:

beclearly and fully understood. The mill" can be constructed in varioussizes and the spiral teeth or cutting'bladesonthe cylinder tion andrelative arrangementiof the several parts, and it is, therefore, to beunderstood that while' I have herein shown'and del scribed the preferredembodiment of the de vice, I reserve the privilege'of adopting" all suchlegitimate "changesas may be fairly I claim F 6 may have anydesired'pitch so that the out, 7 will'be longer or shorter as preferred;The machine. is likewise susceptible of many minor modifications in theform, construcembodied within the spiritand scope of the i 7, or 1. Inareducin'g mill,.a revolublefcutter, "a rectilinearly movable memberfor" directing the material tojthe cutter andfhaving a 7 face opposed tothe cutter and concaved i11 eccentric relation thereto, the majorportion of said concave face being unbroken and said member having aseriesgof grooves formed in said'concave face adjacent to the mitten-andmeansfor adjustably positioning;

said member relative to the cutter. 2. In a reducing mill,arevoluble'cutter,

a rectilinearly shiftable' member for directing the material to thecutter, said'member having a knife edge disposed in tangentialrelationto the cutter and being provided in the face thereof which isopposed to' the cutter and contiguous to the knife edge with a series oflongitudinally extendinggrooves,

and means for adjusting --.said:member to.- V "125,

ward or from the cutter.

In a reducing. mill, a revoluble cutter, a housing extending over thecutter and having a shell communicating with the housing above saidcutter, a feeding-trough fixed to;

one end of said shell, arotatable. worm ex tending through the troughand said shell break up the material prior to its delivery to to conveythe material from the trough into the cutter. 10 the shell and equallydistribute the same lon- In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix mygitudinally upon the cutter, the wall of said signature in the presenceof two witnesses. trough at one side of the axis of the feed CLARENCEBYRD. Worm having a longitudinally extending Witnesses:

channel therein, and said Worm being HUGHIE F. BENTON,

toothed to cooperate with said channel and R. S. J EFFCOAT.

Copies of this; patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the "Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, I). G.

